Interstate 85 fatal crashes in Georgia

FARS records 339 fatal crashes with 371 deaths on Interstate 85 in Georgia from 2015 to 2024.

In 2024 it records 29 fatal crashes with 29 deaths on the route.

By fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024, Interstate 85 was number 3 of the 114 routes of Georgia with a page.

Fatal crashes on Interstate 85 rose by 33.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (254) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (339).

In Georgia they rose by 15.0% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, motorcyclists were 6.5% of the deaths on Interstate 85 and 11.2% in Georgia.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.
The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.
NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on 1 Apr 2026. NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Fatal crashes on Interstate 85 in Georgia by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this route has a change on record.

Fatal crashes by year

Table 1.Interstate 85 in Georgia: fatal crashes and deaths by year, 2000 to 2024
Year	Fatal crashes	Deaths
2024	29	29
2023	32	34
2022	36	39
2021	53	56
2020	38	41
2019	33	39
2018	41	44
2017	31	34
2016	25	32
2015	21	23
2014	21	23
2013	17	17
2012	17	19
2011	26	28
2010	15	15
2009	32	36
2008	33	37
2007	32	39
2006	34	43
2005	27	32
2004	37	40
2003	29	34
2002	17	20
2001	41	43
2000	7	10

Note: the route is the trafficway that FARS records for the crash. The records of routes start in 2000. A count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2".

Counties on the route

Table 2.Interstate 85: fatal crashes on the route in each county, 2015 to 2024, in name order
County	On the route	On all roads of the county
Banks County	10	46
Barrow County	4	125
Chatham County	1 or 2	345
Clayton County	7	432
Coweta County	33	193
DeKalb County	46	1,007
Franklin County	26	72
Fulton County	76	1,189
Glynn County	1 or 2	127
Gwinnett County	60	578
Harris County	4	70
Hart County	3	53
Jackson County	27	147
Meriwether County	10	63
Muscogee County	4	223
Troup County	27	130

Note: the table has the counties where FARS records a fatal crash on the route in these years.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 3.Interstate 85 in Georgia: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share on all roads of Georgia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 339 fatal crashes	55	339 fatal crashes	16.2%	19.6%
A speeding-related driverof 339 fatal crashes	59	339 fatal crashes	17.4%	19.4%
Pedestriansof 371 deaths	66	371 deaths	17.8%	17.1%
Motorcyclistsof 371 deaths	24	371 deaths	6.5%	11.2%

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. One crash can be in two rows. NHTSA's definitions

Note that alcohol data is often missing. For that reason, this data element may under-count the actual number of drinking drivers.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Time of day

Table 4.Interstate 85 in Georgia: fatal crashes by time of day, 2015 to 2024
Time of day	Fatal crashes	Share	Share on all roads of Georgia
Midnight to 6 a.m.	114	33.7%	19.8%
6 a.m. to noon	61	18.0%	19.9%
Noon to 6 p.m.	71	21.0%	27.2%
6 p.m. to midnight	92	27.2%	33.1%

Note: the table has the fatal crashes with a known hour.

Mile ranges

Table 5.Interstate 85 in Georgia: fatal crashes by range of five miles, 2015 to 2024
Milepoint	Fatal crashes
Mile 0 to 5	114
Mile 5 to 10	66
Mile 10 to 15	40
Mile 15 to 20	46
Mile 20 to 25	9
Mile 25 to 30	19

Note: the table has the six ranges of five miles with the largest counts, in the order of the milepoint. 95.9 percent of the fatal crashes on the route have a milepoint in FARS. A state can start its milepoints again at a county line.

Routes in the same counties

These routes of Georgia have a fatal crash on record in one or more of the same counties. The list is for navigation. The number is the fatal crashes on the route from 2015 to 2024.

All routes in Georgia

Official channels

NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)NHTSA's query tool for FARS counts.
NHTSA FARS EncyclopediaNHTSA's tables of FARS data.
Georgia Governor's Office of Highway SafetyThe highway safety office of Georgia.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Interstate 85 fatal crashes in Georgia. https://fatalroads.com/route/ga/i-85/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

The address of this page does not change.

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Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 2000 to 2024. A route page is built for a signed Interstate, US or state route with 20 or more fatal crashes in a state in ten years. Data to 31 Dec 2024. The figures are totals. No page of this site is about one crash or one person.

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

How many fatal crashes did FARS record on Interstate 85 in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 254 fatal crashes on Interstate 85 in Georgia from 2005 to 2014. It records 339 from 2015 to 2024.

What part of the fatal crashes in Georgia was on Interstate 85?

339 of the 14,652 fatal crashes in Georgia from 2015 to 2024 were on Interstate 85. That is 2.3 percent.

How many fatal crashes on Interstate 85 had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 55 of 339 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. It records a speeding-related driver in 59 of them.

Does this page count the same route number in a different state?

No. This page counts the fatal crashes that FARS records on Interstate 85 in Georgia only. The route in a different state has its own page.